Word has it that Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch are on Marvel’s short list of actors to play the lead in Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange film. Then again, it’s not really fair to label this as news since these two are on pretty much everyone’s short list from big-budget studio pictures down to your uncle’s buddy cop movie Kickstarter campaign. Just a couple of days ago, we heard that Jared Leto was rumored to be circling the role as a more “controversial choice.” Hardy and Cumberbatch would certainly be much less risky choices to play the arrogant surgeon who becomes the Sorcerer Supreme. Hit the jump for more.

Deadline reports that Hardy and Cumberbatch are atop Marvel’s short list for actors to play the lead in Doctor Strange. Of course they are. Aim high and see if you can afford them; if not, move on to the next best thing. Hardy’s already established his role in comic book movie lore with his portrayal of Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, while the closest Cumberbatch has gotten would be his parts in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness or, as a stretch, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. (Just stop for a moment and imagine the impending emotional explosion of Cumberbatch squaring off against Tom Hiddleston’s Loki on the big screen.)